Hillsborough County School Board

When the Culture War Comes for the School Board

October 19, 2026 B. John 131 Views 0 Comments District 2, Brittany Lyssy, Hillsborough County School Board, 1776 Project PAC, school board elections, political spending, Culture Wars

This entry is in the series Education

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

The 1776 Project PAC says it is deeply concerned about reading scores. Fair enough. It also wants school-board candidates to answer for CRT, DEI, social-emotional learning, gender policy, and whether they will replace “equity-based” curriculum. Apparently phonics now comes with a political questionnaire.

The group has endorsed exactly one Hillsborough County School Board candidate: Brittany Lyssy. It has also reported nearly $72,000 in Hillsborough school-board spending on texting, mail production, and postage. That is a lot of national political money for a race that is supposed to be nonpartisan.

So the obvious question is not whether the 1776 Project cares about schools. It clearly does. The question is what kind of school board it wants to build here, and what it expects from the only Hillsborough candidate it chose to support.

Politics Election Featured

Two Campaigns, Two Very Different Funding Models

September 29, 2026September 29, 2026 B. John 280 Views 0 Comments District 2, Brittany Lyssy, Campaign Finance, Hillsborough County School Board, Daniela Simic, Leadership Institute, political committees

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

This entry is in the series Education

Campaign finance reports can be tedious, but the District 2 numbers tell a fairly simple story. Daniela Simic’s campaign is driven much more by individual donors and smaller contributions. Brittany Lyssy’s campaign relies far more heavily on large checks, businesses, and political committees. Her latest filings also include direct support from a Hillsborough County Republican organization in a race that is formally nonpartisan.

There is another layer. Lyssy also chairs a separate political committee bearing her name, while part of the education-policy experience she cites comes from the conservative Leadership Institute’s school-board program. That same program has featured Bridget Ziegler in a leadership and training role.

The full article strips away the financial-report clutter and examines who is funding these two campaigns, the political networks surrounding them, and the very different professional backgrounds the candidates would bring to the Hillsborough County School Board.

General Featured Places Tampa Politics Election

Daniela Simic Has Been Preparing for This Job for Years

September 8, 2026September 8, 2026 B. John 448 Views 0 Comments Public Education, District 2, Brittany Lyssy, Campaign Finance, Hillsborough County School Board, community leadership, Daniela Simic, classroom experience, teacher endorsements

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

Daniela Simic’s campaign is built around something school board races could use more of: deep experience with schools themselves. She has spent about 25 years in education, from the classroom to district leadership, with years of PTA and community work layered on top of it.

Her fundraising tells its own story. Simic and Brittany Lyssy have raised roughly the same amount from outside donors, but Simic reached that total through far more contribution transactions, a lower median donation, and broader support from individuals, educators, labor groups, and community organizations.

The race gives District 2 voters a clear factual comparison in background, donor base, and connection to Hillsborough’s schools. The full piece looks at Simic’s record, the people backing her, and the experience she brings to one of the largest school systems in the country.

Featured Places Tampa Politics Election

Would This Resume Get the Job?

August 1, 2026August 1, 2026 B. John 411 Views 0 Comments Hillsborough County Public Schools, School Board Election, Leadership Experience, Local Politics, education policy, Brittany Lyssy, Campaign Finance, Hillsborough County School Board

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

Would this resume get the job? That’s the question every voter should ask before electing someone to help govern the seventh-largest school district in the nation. Hillsborough County Public Schools oversees more than 218,000 students, employs over 23,000 people, and manages a budget exceeding $4 billion. If this were a private company, would this résumé earn a seat in the boardroom?

This article examines Brittany Lyssy’s publicly presented qualifications alongside her campaign finance reports, which show that, excluding a personal loan to her campaign, nearly four out of every ten identifiable donor dollars came from outside Hillsborough County. It’s not a partisan argument. It’s a hiring question. Before entrusting someone with one of the most consequential governing positions in our community, voters deserve to ask whether the experience matches the responsibility.